Linda Kasabian
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Linda Darlene Kasabian (June 21, 1949 - January 21, 2023) was a former member of the Manson Family. She was the key witness in District Attorney Vincent Bugliosi's prosecution of Charles Manson and his followers for the 1969 Tate–LaBianca murders.
Biography edit
Linda Kasabian was born on June 21, 1949, in Biddeford, Maine. Kasabian moved to Los Angeles in 1968, and through Catherine "Gypsy" Share, she met Charles Manson on July 4, 1969. At the time, Kasabian was a pregnant, two-time divorcee and the mother of an infant daughter. She moved to the Spahn Ranch with Manson and his followers, where she proceeded to fall under his spell.
Kasabian was welcomed by group members, who greeted her with professions of peace and love and assurances that she and her daughter would be cared for, provided she proved loyal. Kasabian became privy to various events and statements that later proved to be important to the criminal case. During her first night with the family, she met and had sexual relations with the high-ranking Manson follower Charles "Tex" Watson. Both of them have described their initial encounter as very intense. Watson persuaded Kasabian to steal a sum of money from her ex-husband's friend, Charles Melton.
Kasabian was then introduced to Manson, a dramatic event for her. She thought that he looked magnificent in his buckskin clothing, and that he seemed to be Christ-like. Manson talked with her about why she had come to the ranch, and after feeling her legs, he accepted her. That night, Manson and Kasabian had sex in a Spahn Ranch cave.
At first, Kasabian found Manson's message to be peaceful, but within her first month at the ranch his tone changed to one of violence and paranoia, focusing on what Manson called "Helter Skelter"—the inevitable race war that he foresaw.
To precipitate Helter Skelter, Manson sent Kasabian with Watson, Susan Atkins, and Patricia Krenwinkel to 10050 Cielo Drive, and told them to kill everyone there. Watson told Kasabian to stay outside of the residence, and she listened to the murders occurring within, watching in horror as Wojciech Frykowski died at her feet on the front lawn. Inside, actress Sharon Tate and three others were also murdered, and another man lie dead in his car in the driveway. Kasabian ran to her car and started it, but she was then afraid to drive away, fearing for her baby back at the Spahn Ranch.
The next night, Kasabian rode to the house of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca and waited in the car while Manson and the others went inside. When Manson came out, telling his followers that the couple was tied up, he sent in three family members to kill them, driving away with Kasabian in the car. Two days later, she fled.
The new home of the "Family," the Barker Ranch, was raided in October 1969. Everyone present was arrested for auto theft, but their involvement in the murders was quickly discovered. Kasabian turned herself in two months later, and became the lead witness for the prosecution. Her testimony was the biggest key to finding Manson and his followers guilty, and Kasabian was given immunity.
Kasabian was later detained for numerous traffic violations, until an automobile accident left her partially disabled. Though she had severed all of her ties with the Manson "family", the Secret Service kept her under surveillance for a time after former Manson associate Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford. Kasabian was the target of scorn from the few remaining Manson "family" members.
After moving to New Hampshire to live with her mother, Kasabian was inundated with media and public attention, so she changed her name and moved west, remaining in hiding until a documentary film crew found her living in near poverty in a trailer park in 2009.
In a September 2, 2009 live interview on CNN's Larry King Live, Kasabian recounted her memories of the murders at Sharon Tate's home. To help her maintain her now-quiet life, Kasabian wore a disguise provided by the program. She told Larry King during the interview that after the trial she had been in need of, but had never obtained, "psychological counseling", and that during the previous 12 years, she had been "on a path of healing and rehabilitation." When asked about the degree of remorse she felt for her participation in the crimes, Kasabian said she felt as though she took on all the guilt that "no one else [who was involved in the crimes] felt guilt for".
Kasabian died in Tacoma on January 21, 2023, at the age of 73.